


and i'll show you who this heart beats for

by lazyfish



Series: wilderness [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Kid Fic, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 05:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15405864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: Almost three years after the Zephyr returns from space, Lance is still trying to learn how to balance being an agent, a husband, and a father - but life never does make that easy.





	and i'll show you who this heart beats for

No one’s there to greet Hunter when he steps off the Quinjet, which is a slight disappointment but not a surprise. He and May just finished a mission, and it’s smack in the middle of dinnertime.

Ah, shit. It’s Sunday. “How mad do you think they’re going to be we’re late to family dinner?” Hunter asks May as she finishes her check of the plane. He picks up the briefcase they were sent to retrieve, checking for what must be the third time that it’s still securely locked.

“On a scale of one to ten? Probably a nine.” May shakes her head. “But at least we’re not going to miss it like last week.”

“We can just blame Mack,” Hunter decides as they beginning walking through the Lighthouse’s corridors. “It’s his fault for always sending us on missions on Sundays.”

May offers him one of her rare smiles. “Sounds like a plan.” She reaches for the briefcase. “You go on ahead. I’ll drop this off in the Director’s office.”

Hunter hands it over, smiling. “I owe you one.”

“That makes it, what, three hundred and six favors you owe me?” May says drily.

“Think it’s three hundred and five, but who’s counting?” Hunter winks at her before turning down the next hallway to begin his journey to the kitchen.

When he arrives, everyone’s already eating.

“Daddy!” Hadley’s out of her booster seat before anyone can so much as admonish her to stay still, and she skids across the kitchen floor, slamming into Hunter’s legs and holding on tight.

“Hello, my bird,” he says, reaching down to pick her up. “I missed you.” He and May have been gone for the last week and a half in search of that stupid briefcase, and Lance is relieved just to be home.

“I missed you too, Daddy,” Hadley says, burrowing her face into Hunter’s neck. He kisses the top of her head softly, ignoring the guilt twisting in his stomach. He doesn’t like being gone from her for so long - ten days is forever when you’re that young - but Hunter has to keep telling himself that he’s doing everything he can to make the world better for her.

“Where’s your mum, little bird?” Lance asks his daughter. Bobbi isn’t at the dinner table, and it’s family dinner, which means she must have some sort of excuse.

“She had work to finish in the lab,” Jemma offers. She’s sitting in the seat to the right of Hadley, the spot Bobbi or Hunter normally occupy to help keep their daughter’s meal on track.

“Birdie, why don’t you finish eating dinner with Aunt Jemma?” Hunter suggests, walking them back over to the table.

Hadley begins pouting, and Hunter runs his hand through her hair. “I’ll be right back, Hads. I promise. I just want to say hello to your mummy, okay?” He pauses a moment. “You know who else is back, little bird?”

Hadley’s face lights up. “Grandma!?”

Hunter laughs. Despite her original reticence to have anything to do with Hadley, May had been worn down by his daughter’s persistence and charm - both of which she had inherited from him, of course. But, in any case, May had embraced her role as the matriarch of the family that had slowly stitched itself back together in the last few years, and that meant accepting the title of Grandma with little fuss.

“Yes, my bird,” he confirms as he sets Hadley back into the booster seat. “I bet she’d love to hear what you’ve been doing since we left.”

Hadley is suitably distracted by the promise of May coming back, and Hunter is able to slip out of the kitchen with minimal fanfare - though Elena does glare at him for not even sitting down before leaving again. She’s always the one to cook for family dinner (by virtue of being the best cook on the base, hands-down) so she takes it rather personally when people won’t sit down and eat.

The lab is virtually empty - there’s only a single lamp on, and that’s where Hunter heads.

Bobbi’s sprawled out on top of a pile of notes, fast asleep. The computer screen in front of her continues to spit out data despite the fact that no one’s watching.

“Bob,” Hunter shakes her shoulder gently. “Wake up, love.”

She startles awake a moment later, looking around wildly for a moment before her gaze comes to rest on Hunter. She relaxes a little, rubbing at her eyes.

“Welcome home,” Bobbi murmurs, standing up from her chair to kiss him in greeting.

“You’re missed at dinner,” he tells her, wrapping an arm around her waist to kiss her again.

“Oh. Fuck, it’s Sunday. Fuck, I was supposed to -” she gestures helplessly to the stacks of papers still on her desk.

“You kiss our daughter with that mouth?” Hunter teases.

Bobbi frowns. “Our daughter is the reason I fell asleep in the first place. Five o’clock in the morning, Hunter! What sort of sane child wakes up that early!?” Her head falls onto his shoulder, and she sighs.

“Pretty bold of you to assume that any child of ours is going to be sane,” he jokes. Bobbi laughs, lifting her head so she can look him in the eyes.

“I missed you,” she says.

Hunter suppresses a sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be gone so long, but -”

“Hey,” Bobbi interrupts him. “I know why you’re doing what you do, Lance.” Of course she does. She’s the one that roped him into S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place. “Just keep coming back home to me, and we’ll make it work.”

He nods, and pulls her into a hug. There’s a moment of perfect peace before they have to return to reality, and Hunter smiles tiredly at his wife. “Let’s go to dinner. This can wait until tomorrow.”

Bobbi nods, taking his hand so they can return to their daughter.

\---

Hadley goes to bed early that night, tired out by spending no less than thirty minutes running literal circles around May due to sheer excitement. Hunter’s glad of it. Even after her accidental nap in the lab, Bobbi still looks absolutely shattered - not that he’s stupid enough to tell his wife how exhausted she looks.

They sit on their bed, shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip, their hands clasped between them. Normally they do something other than sit, like read or talk, but sometimes it’s nice just to be together without everything else cluttering up the moment.

Bobbi shifts slightly, turning to look at her husband. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did,” he says with a grin. Bobbi rolls her eyes, knocking her shoulder against his.

“I meant another question, dumbass.” He knows that, and she knows he knows that, but it’s just… nice, to be able to joke and smile.

“Go for it.”

“Do you want another baby?”

Hunter blinks. “Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it.” He’s been gone so much that it seems unfair to ask Bobbi to go through another pregnancy, especially since she’s also parenting Hadley and working full-time.

He really needs to be gone less, Hunter decides. He’s been stupid for ignoring the toll it’s had on Bobbi for as long as he has.

“But do you _want_ one?” Bobbi asks again. Hunter turns his head to look at her. She looks upset, and it squeezes his heart in the worst way.

“Bobbi, even one child was amazing to me.” He squeezes their joined hands gently. “I don’t want to be greedy.” The idea of his wife carrying a child while he gallavants around the world on missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t sit right with Hunter.

“Lance…” she whispers. “I think I’m pregnant.”

His brain short-circuits. He doesn’t respond.

“If you don’t -” Bobbi sobs, and that’s when Hunter knows he’s fucked up.

“Shh, Bobbi, no, don’t say that.” He pulls her into his lap, holding her tight against his chest as she continues to cry. “I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer. I _want_ another child.”

He strokes a hand up and down her back. It’s obvious these tears are for more than just the few seconds when she thought he might not want another child. Lance doesn’t know how long she’s been sitting on all of these feelings, but he’s glad she’s getting them all out now instead of keeping them trapped for even longer.

The tears subside, but Bobbi doesn’t move off of his lap.

“I didn’t want to take the test with you gone,” she mumbles. “And I’m not sure I could have peed alone if I wanted to.”

Hunter chuckles, continuing to rub soothing circles between her shoulder blades. “I’ll ask Mack if I can have some time off missions. I’m sure there’s some administrative stuff he’s been putting off.” Maybe Hunter’s not the savviest of all the agents, but his years of losing bets and doing inventory have taught him a thing or two about balancing the books.

“There’s Hadley, too,” Bobbi sighs. “She’s so used to be the only kid around here, and everyone paying attention to her, and -”

“Let’s not put the cart before the horse, love,” Hunter soothes. “Tomorrow you can take the test, and then we can make a plan from there, alright? We have time.”

Bobbi nods slowly. “I really did miss you, Lance.” They were each other’s touchstones, and everything felt so much more bearable when they were together.

“And I missed you.” He kisses her temple. “Let’s get some sleep, sweetheart.”

\---

At 4:56 in the morning, their daughter comes streaking into their room.

“Mummy! Daddy!” Hadley throws herself on the bad, and Hunter flinches as her elbow connects with his stomach.

“Mmm…” Bobbi mumbles into her pillow. “Your kid before five in the morning.”

Hunter doubts she even knows what she’s saying while half-asleep, but he’s all too happy to be the one to wake up. “Good morning, bird,” Hunter yawns, sitting up. “Let’s go get some breakfast and let mummy sleep a little more, why don’t we?”

Hadley doesn’t seem to care who she’s with as long as someone is paying attention to her, so she doesn’t fuss when it’s her father instead of her mother following her to the kitchen.

“Daddy,” Hadley says as Hunter peels a banana for her breakfast, “when are you going to leave again?”

Lance rubs the back of his hand along his eyes, ostensibly clearing away sleep but actually brushing away a tear that had escaped before he could rein in his emotions. “I’ll have to ask the man in charge, birdie,” he answers. He and Bobbi were careful to separate the man in charge from Hadley’s Uncle Mack so as not to cause any ill will between their daughter and her godfather, but that also means that Hunter can’t talk about work in front of his daughter.

“Tell him I want you to stay,” his daughter commands, sticking out her lower lip.

“I will be sure to pass the message along,” Hunter says, finishing cutting the banana and setting the plate of fruit in front of his daughter.

They eat their breakfast in relative silence. Even after they’ve finished, no one else on the base has woken up yet. Hadley settles at the kitchen table with some paper and crayons, alternating between rambling about her drawing and being absolutely silent as she concentrates.

May’s the next one to wake up, stepping in the kitchen precisely at 5:45, just as she does every morning.

“Good morning,” she greets.

“There’s water in the kettle still for tea,” Hunter tells her. That was one of the many things that had helped mend his strained relationship with May: their shared love of tea.

“Thanks,” May says, stopping at the table to look at Hadley’s drawing. “What’s that, baby?” she asks.

“It’s a garden!” Hadley responds proudly.

“She’s been trying to draw daisies for her aunt,” Hunter explains, gesturing to the image that he pulled up on his phone for Hadley to look at.

“Looks good, Hads,” May compliments before returning to the kitchen for her breakfast and tea.

Over the next two hours, Hadley finishes her drawing of a garden and begins another, identical drawing, insisting that she needed to draw more daisies. May leaves for the gym, and various other agents filter in and out, but don’t linger long. Jemma rolls in right before eight o’clock, making a beeline for Hadley.

“Good morning, my morning bird!” Jemma chirps enthusiastically. Hadley giggles, lifting her arms up for Jemma, who scoops her up immediately. “Are we ready for school this morning?”

Hadley nods enthusiastically, and Hunter smiles at Jemma. She had taken a shining to her role as school teacher, saying it would be helpful for when she and Fitz had children of their own - though that still seemed far off for them since they had rebuilt their relationship seemingly from scratch after bringing Fitz out of the cryo chamber.

Hunter wonders briefly if Bobbi had informed Jemma of their situation, and that was why their friend was starting Hadley’s preschool for the day a little earlier than normal, but he quickly shakes away the thought. He very much doubts that Bobbi would tell Jemma about a potential baby before him, and she hadn’t left his side since the news had broke.

Speaking of Bobbi - she comes trudging in the kitchen as Hadley and Jemma are heading out, pausing to kiss their daughter on the head before slumping into the chair next to Hunter’s, resting her head on his shoulder.

“How’d you sleep?” he asks, dropping a kiss to her hair.

“Better than I did when you were gone,” Bobbi admits shamelessly. She bites her lip, worrying it between her teeth for a few seconds. “I want to take the test now.”

Hunter nods, standing up and stretching. “You know where to get one?”

Bobbi looks at him sheepishly. “I may have, uh, stolen one from the medical supplies. Or three.”

Hunter laughs. “I can’t believe you sometimes.”

Bobbi just smiles, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to their bunk.

Lance tries to remember what it was like waiting to find out if Bobbi was pregnant with Hadley, but he can’t summon anything other than a feeling of pure terror. They hadn’t been in nearly as good of a situation then as they were now, so his relative calm makes sense, but he still feels ridiculous for how nervous he is while waiting for the tests to come back.

Bobbi is twirling her batons, pacing the length of their bedroom. She stops suddenly, and Hunter turns to look at her.

“What if I’m not pregnant?” she blurts out.

“Then you’re not pregnant,” Lance answers. Bobbi sits on the bed beside him, and Hunter takes her hand.

“I want to have another baby,” Bobbi announces softly. “If I’m not.”

“Now, when have you ever known me to turn down an excuse to have sex with you?” Hunter turns his face to hers, bumping their noses together gently. He pecks her lips softly. “And more of you in the world will never be a bad thing, my love.”

Bobbi initiates another quick kiss, smiling. “You’re not a hard man to convince, you know that?”

“I’ve been told something along those lines by a very pretty blonde before.” Hunter presses his lips against Bobbi’s for a third time, harder and longer than before.

“Hunter,” she mutters against his mouth. “Don’t you think it’s a little weird to have sex while waiting to find out if I’m pregnant?”

He draws back from her, making a face. “You really had to go and ruin the moment, didn’t you?”

Bobbi sighs. “I totally was about to get laid, and I totally ruined it.”

Hunter nods, laughing.

The timer goes off. Neither of them move.

“...So am I going to look, then?” Hunter asks after another minute of stillness.

“Yup, looks that way.”

“Okay.”

He gets up and enters the bathroom, where the three tests are lined up on the counter. Hunter inspects them, one by one, before returning to Bobbi.

“So, how should we break the news to Hadley that she’s going to have a baby brother or sister?”

Bobbi’s face splits into a grin, and Hunter swears that there has never been anything in the universe half so bright as that smile. She squeals in a manner that’s far from her dignified, composed facade, jumping up and wrapping her arms around Hunter, who squeezes her tight.

“We’re having a baby. Again,” Bobbi says.

“Yeah, love. We are.”

\---

This conversation with Mack is not going the way Hunter had hoped.

“It’s just one more mission, Hunter,” his friend tells him.

He had been hoping for no more missions, but such is the way of the world. What’s more upsetting to him is that he has to leave _tomorrow_. He just got back! Lance considers ripping off the bandage and telling Mack that the reason he wants to stay is more than just spending more time with Hadley. But telling people is something he and Bobbi were planning on doing together, and he doubts it’ll do much to change Mack’s mind, anyways. Hunter and May are a formidable team, now that they’re not busy fighting with each other every waking moment.

“But after, I can stay on-base?” Hunter presses. He doesn’t want to get roped into mission after mission of ‘just one more’. He wants to be here, with his family.

“You have my word.” Mack’s word is good, so Hunter nods, and leaves the Director’s office.

\---

Early the next morning, he and May meet in the kitchen to review the op one last time before they depart. They both nurse a cup off tea as they memorize the blueprints and their plan. It looks clean on paper, but the ops that are cleanest on paper always seem to be the messiest to actually complete.

Hadley and Bobbi are both waiting at the entrance of the hangar to see them off. Hunter tries his best not to get too emotional - May will start asking questions if he does - but he can’t help but sigh when he hugs Bobbi goodbye.

“I love you so much,” he says into the skin of her neck.

“I love you too.” Bobbi strokes a hand through his hair. “Don’t die out there, okay?” Hunter nods, brushing his hand across the flat of her stomach as subtly as he can. She smiles nervously at him, and he smiles in return. It’s stupid to be as on edge as he is, but he can’t help it. He wants to come home to her, like he had promised.

After squeezing Hadley much too tight and giving Bobbi another kiss, Hunter jogs to the Quinjet, sliding into the co-pilot’s seat.

“Never gets easier, huh?” May asks as he sits down.

“Nope.” Hunter shakes his head, grabbing a headset to slide over his ears once the plane takes off.

“It’s all going to be fine, Hunter,” May says with a roll of her eyes. “They’re good, but we’re better.”

\---

Spoiler alert: it was not all fine.

They were outnumbered ten-to-one, and fighting in a wide-open gymnasium that didn’t even give May and Hunter the advantage of a bottleneck. Their guns and ICERs have both long since been depleted, and it’s like the guards never stop coming.

“Someone sold us out.” May grits as she slams her elbow into the larynx of one of the men they’re fighting.

“You don’t say?” Hunter pants, his shoulder connecting with another guard’s sternum. This is five times the amount of people they were expecting, and there’s no logical explanation for why, except that the facility knew S.H.I.E.L.D. was coming. How, Hunter didn’t know, but he didn’t really have time to consider it.

He kicks a third person in the stomach, watching as they double over in pain. “Ooh, someone’s got a tummy ache,” he mocks, before wincing. “I really need to spend less time around my kid.”

May sends one of the assailants to their knees with a well-aimed punch. “I thought you were trying to spend more time with her?”

Hunter ducks out of the way of a blow, grabbing onto the soldier’s baton and using the momentum from the strike to flip the man. Hey, at least he has a weapon now. “Yeah, but we kind of have to get out of here first.”

There’s a momentary lull in attacks, and May and Hunter take a moment to regroup. None of their attackers were carrying guns, which means they both have to settle for batons. Bobbi’ll be thrilled to know all of the time she spent drilling him with her weapon of choice was actually worth something.

“What’re the odds that we get out of here?” Hunter asks, wiping the back of his hand under his nose to clear away the blood that’s dripping down. There’s the thundering of bootsteps, which means they’re about to have more company.

“I have no clue,” May answers. They don’t have time to talk after that - they just fight.

And they lose.

\---

They spend the next two months in a cell, chained together at the wrist. They’re both good agents, but they’re not good enough to fight their way out of an unknown prison facility with no weapons and no escape plan, while also bound together. After the first week, they give up on hope of rescue.

All in all, it really could be worse. They’re given three meals a day, even if those three meals are just broth and bread, and they’re only punished if they’re too loud - which is every time they speak, but that’s beside the point. May and Hunter both are passable enough in sign language that they can still communicate. They’re not interrogated or tortured, just imprisoned.

It’s the psychological pain that’s worse than the physical. Hunter spends most of his waking hours thinking about his daughter and his wife. Technically, he hadn’t broken his promise to Bobbi, since he wasn’t dead, but he had told her that he was going to come home to her, and he wasn’t home, either.

 _Hadley’s birthday is in three days_ , Hunter signs to May near the end of month two.

 _I know_ , she responds. _I thought we’d be back_.

 _Me too_. Now his daughter is going to have her father and her grandmother missing from her fourth birthday, and it was all his fault. He should have just said no when Mack had insisted on one more mission.

May squeezes his hand. _Don’t go feeling sorry for yourself or I might have to punch you_.

 _You could just shoot me again_. May smiles at that, and Hunter lays his head on her shoulder. Two months chained to each other had changed their relationship even more drastically than the last three years combined. Sure, he would prefer _not_ to be chained to May in the future, but it had done wonders for cultivating closeness.

There’s a crash outside their cell, and they both jump, startled by the volume of the noise. They don’t need to check with each other before they creep to the front of their cell in tandem, peering out from between the bars to see what the cause of the commotion is.

There is a man with a flaming skull walking down the hallway.

Hunter turns to look at May. She seems a lot less perplexed by this development than he is. The flaming man flicks his wrist, a chain - also on fire - wraps around the nearest guard’s ankles.

Hunter flinches again at the sound of the screaming.

Two minutes later, Flamethrower has turned back into a normal-looking guy, and Hunter’s still a bit too stunned to do anything other than look at May. She smirks at him.

“I’m here to take you home,” Matchstick says. It’s still strange to hear actual words.

 _That’s not ominous whatsoever_ , Hunter signs to May.

She smirks again. _He’s a friend_.

Hunter doesn’t really have an option, since he’s still handcuffed to May and she’s already walking quite expeditiously down the hallway, apparently oblivious to the fact that they’re both malnourished and dehydrated and exhausted and not really in a position to be speed-walking anywhere. But that’s May for you - always forging ahead.

Pyro leads them through the labyrinthine hallways, and Hunter raises his arm to his face when they step out into the sunshine. May copies his motion, both of them blinded after two months in relative darkness.

“Come on. We don’t have long,” Firestarter says, gesturing towards the Quinjet that’s parked a few hundred feet away. Hunter and May stumble towards the plane, evidently both hit by the combined weight of the past two months at the same time. They stagger up the ramp, and Daisy’s waiting for them in the pilot’s seat.

“May!” She shouts, throwing her arms around the other woman. May returns the hug with her free arm, and Hunter steps away as far as he can to allow the two women a moment of privacy.

Daisy looks at him strangely, and May holds up their handcuffed wrists in lieu of an explanation. Daisy’s quaking powers make short work of the metal, and Hunter rubs at his wrist for a moment, trying to comprehend what to do now that he’s free of the shackle.

First thing on the list is get strapped in, because according to Daisy they’re thirty seconds from takeoff.

May sits beside him. _Okay?_

 _Fine_. He doesn’t know how else to respond. His mind is all over the place, and he can’t hold onto one thought long enough to do anything - even worry.

 _Who’s the dude?_ Hunter asks.

 _Robbie Reyes_. May’s fingerspelling is quick and meticulous. _He’s…_ She takes a moment before continuing. _Well, he’s from hell_.

 _Wonder if he’s seen Bobbi there_ , Hunter jokes. He’s really not in the mood to inquire more after this Robbie fellow.

May actually laughs, and Daisy turns around in her seat at the noise.

“What are you two doing?” she asks.

“Not flying a plane,” May answers, her voice rough in her throat. It’s been a long time since either of them have spoken, and it shows. “Which is what you _should_ be doing.”

Daisy takes the reprimand in stride, turning back around in her seat after giving Hunter a strange look.

The conversation had served one purpose: it focused Hunter on one thing. _Bobbi_.

\---

She’s the first thing he sees when he steps off the plane.

“Hunter. Med bay,” Daisy says from somewhere behind him.

“Bobbi,” he argues. His voice cracks from the strain of even that one word, but Hunter doesn’t care.

Daisy sighs. “I told Mack this would happen.” And honestly, why wouldn’t it? Two months without seeing his wife was far too long, even under normal circumstances.

“I’ll walk with you there,” Bobbi offers. “That way everyone’s happy.”

Daisy relents, and Bobbi approaches Hunter cautiously. He reaches up, resting the palm of his hand against her cheek. She was really there - this wasn’t some convoluted dream.

“Hi,” Bobbi says, mirroring his gesture and running her thumb over the line of his cheekbone.

“Hi.” It seems so anticlimactic, but even that simple exchange has sent Hunter’s heart on a frenzy.

Bobbi’s head dips, and she slants her mouth over his. Hunter feels like he’s been underwater for the past two months, and now he’s finally breathing.

“That doesn’t look like walking,” Robbie comments drily. Bobbi gives him the finger before Hunter has time to react, and a startled laugh bubbles out of him. The sound is grating and not all that jovial, but Bobbi smiles anyway. She takes his hand and leads him to the medbay. They don’t talk. All of the questions Hunter wants to ask - about her, about Hadley, about the baby - deserve more than the few seconds of explanation she’d be able to give him in the hallway.

The med bay is relatively quiet. May has already been forced into a bed, much to her obvious displeasure.

 _Save me_ , she signs across the room to Hunter.

“What did she just say?” Jemma asks, turning to face Hunter.

He gives an innocent shrug. Bobbi chuckles, but doesn’t spill the beans.

The doctors insist upon giving him an IV to replenish some fluids and nutrients, and Hunter doesn’t fight them. The quicker he does what they want, the quicker he can get out of there. Once the IV has been started, though, he and Bobbi are left alone.

“So,” Hunter says. “Baby?”

Bobbi gives a cautious glance around the med bay, which is really unnecessary, considering they’re surrounded on three sides by a curtain and one side by a wall. She stands up and lifts the sweatshirt she’s wearing to expose her stomach.

“Wow.” Hunter reaches out to trail his fingers along the curve of her abdomen. He sees know why she’s wearing a sweatshirt. The bump is by no means prominent, but it’s definitely there, and would be noticed if she was wearing something more skintight.

“There’s something I have to tell you,” Bobbi says. At the alarmed look on Hunter’s face, she begins shaking her head quickly. “Nothing bad! Everything’s fine,” she assures him. “But since you were so happy to have another baby, I thought… why not have two?”

“Twins?” Hunter croaks.

Bobbi nods. “What do you think?” she asks.

“I love you,” he whispers, reaching his arms out for her. It’s hard with one hand attached to an IV, but he manages to wrap her in a hug, burying his face in her stomach and dropping soft kisses on her skin.

“Hadley know?” he asks as Bobbi sits back down. His wife shakes her head.

“I haven’t told anyone. Only the doctor knows,” she explains. “I didn’t have much morning sickness at all, and the tiredness I just said was because of stress, and Mack wasn’t sending me on missions anyway, with you missing…”

“I want to see her,” Hunter announces. “Hadley.”

Bobbi doesn’t ask if he’s sure. She doesn’t point out that he still recoils if someone speaks a little too loudly, and their daughter isn’t exactly known for her volume control. She just nods, takes out her phone, and sends a text.

Five minutes later, Hadley is in his arms, bawling.

“I know, birdie,” he soothes as she clings to him. “It’s okay. I’m home now.”

His words don’t seem to do anything, but Hunter doesn’t stop reassuring his daughter that he’s there and not planning on leaving anytime soon.

“I couldn’t miss your birthday, could I?” Hunter asks. Bobbi had been holding herself together the whole time, but the question sends tears sliding silently down her cheeks.

“Don’t cry, my girls,” Hunter murmurs softly, reaching his free hand out to squeeze Bobbi’s. “We’re safe now.”

\---

Two days later, Hunter wakes up alone in the bed, covered in a cold sweat.

“Bobbi?” Panic rises in his voice as his eyes flit around the room, searching for a sign of his wife. The toilet in the bathroom flushes, but he still can’t relax. He needs to see her.

His wife comes out of the bathroom a minute later, immediately noticing the look on his face.

“Again?” Bobbi questions softly as she slides into bed, allowing Hunter to wrap himself around her as she does so. He’s been trying to give her space, he really has, but their prolonged separation had the unfortunate side effect of restarting his endless Ward-themed nightmares. The ones where she doesn’t survive, the ones where she hates him forever for what happened, the ones where their relationship can’t survive the trauma - they come in all flavors, but the end result is no Bobbi, and Hunter can’t handle that right now.

He nods. He’s only been back three nights, but all three nights have seen him waking up at least twice to a pounding heart and sweaty palms. This is the fourth time tonight.

“It’s okay.” Bobbi begins scratching lightly at his scalp, comforting him as best as she can. She glances at the clock on their bedside table. “It’s about time for us to get up anyways.” They have a birthday party to be setting up for, after all.

“Five more minutes,” he whines, clinging tighter. She traces her fingertips down the back of his neck, pulling him close for a kiss.

“Fine,” she relents.

“How are you feeling?” Hunter asks, removing one of his arms from around her shoulders to press his palm against her stomach.

“I’m good.” Bobbi smiles at him. “You’re back, and that… helped a lot.” She drops her head slightly, blonde hair falling in a curtain over her face.

“I’m sorry, Bob.”

“We both know it’s not your fault, honey.” Bobbi lifts her head again, brushing back her hair. “Just - I was thinking that we could… not leave S.H.I.E.L.D., but resign as field agents.” Her voice is shaky, and Hunter frowns. “I could stay in the lab permanently, and you could - I don’t know, work as a security consultant or something.” Bobbi heaves a sigh. “I know you asked me so many times to cut back, to leave, but…”

“Bobbi,” he interrupts. “I gave up on keeping score a long time ago. You know that.”

“Yeah, well…” Bobbi sighs. “I didn’t know how you’d take it.”

“We’re a team, alright? And I agree, for what it’s worth. I don’t want to miss any more of Hadley’s life, especially not now that she’s old enough to remember it.” Hunter pats her stomach gently. “And these little ones are going to be a handful, I’ll bet.”

“We’re going to be outnumbered,” Bobbi adds.

“Eh, when has that ever stopped us before?” Hunter teases.

Bobbi smiles. “It hasn’t. But our five minutes are up.” She disentangles them with startling efficiency, and Hunter glares at her. “Snooze you lose, baby,” she laughs.

Hunter rolls his eyes, but doesn’t comment, moving instead to make the bed.

“When do you think we should tell them?” Bobbi asks as she changes into her outfit for the day.

“Not today,” Hunter answers. “Don’t want to upstage Hadley’s birthday.”

Bobbi chuckles, nodding. “Tomorrow, then.”

“Just to be clear - what are we talking about? The resignation, or the babies?”

Bobbi halts. “I guess both.”

“Man, Mack is going to kill us.”

\---

All in all, things go fairly well. Hadley needs two baths before she’s cake-free enough to put in her bed, but she had the best birthday ever - or at least, that’s what she told her parents before falling asleep.

Bobbi’s also asleep, curled up against him on the couch in the common room.

There’s a tap on his shoulder, and Hunter turns to see May signing to him. _Hadley had a good day today_.

 _We can talk, you know_. They’ve both readjusted to being able to speak without retribution fairly quickly, all things considered.

 _Bobbi’s asleep_ , May points out. Hunter nods - it’s true that he wouldn’t want to wake her.

 _You going to tell me what you have up your sleeve?_ May signs.

Hunter blushes. _That obvious?_

 _I can read you like a book_ , May smirks.

He hesitates a moment, looking over at Bobbi’s sleeping form. She’s wearing another sweatshirt, just as she has been for the past few days, her growing baby bump safely hidden in the extra folds of the fabric.

It’s enough of a tell for May. She doesn’t suggest anything. Even though Bobbi’s asleep, May knows it’s bad form to suggest another woman might be pregnant with no evidence other than a significant look.

 _Tomorrow_ , Hunter signs. May nods, smiling at him before she goes.

\---

As it turns out, announcing a pregnancy is nerve-wracking. Hunter wishes they could do what they did last time - just show up at the base with a bundle in their arms - but that’s impractical.

It does, however, give them an idea. Hadley has never been much good at keeping her mouth shut, for better or for worse, and they used that to their advantage.

Hadley runs into the kitchen for family dinner with a smile on her face.

“Grandma!” she shouts, running into May’s arms.

“Hello, Hads.” May pulls Hadley up into her lap, smiling. She and Hunter had both missed family dinners on Sundays while they were imprisoned. They’d talk often about what it would be like when they got home - especially the meal.

Elena had accepted their request, and Hunter grinned as she brought out the spag bol.

“You are truly a saint, Elena Rodriguez,” Lance says as he serves a small portion of spaghetti for Hadley, and then larger ones for Bobbi and himself.

“Birdie, you need to eat,” Bobbi tells their daughter, who’s still chattering to May.

“But Mummy, I haven’t gotten to the good part yet,” Hadley whines.

Hunter gives his wife a pointed look. They both know what the good part is.

“You can tell Grandma after you’re finished eating,” Bobbi says firmly. Lance laces his fingers with Bobbi’s under the table, squeezing her hand. She’s getting cold feet, which is entirely unlike her.

Hadley huffs, but she knows when to admit defeat. She climbs into her booster seat in between her parents, grabbing her fork and beginning to twirl spaghetti around it clumsily.

May looks at Hunter from across the table, and he just lifts his shoulder in a shrug. He’s not really the important one in this situation, considering he’s not the one who’s actually pregnant. He doubts Bobbi will be able to keep the story under wraps much longer, not when Hadley was so excited to be a big sister, but if his wife wants a few more minutes, then she can have them.

Hunter begins to eat, too, inhaling the spag bol like his life depends on it. His pace is only matched by one other person at the table: his wife.

“Mummy!” Hadley reprimands as Bobbi serves herself another helping. “You can’t eat lots, or there won’t be room in your tummy for the babies!”

A beat of silence while everyone processed what Hadley had said, and then… chaos.

Hunter lifts Hadley out of her chair and into his lap so she won’t be jostled by the group of adults now enthusiastically hugging his wife. Bobbi was flushed pink, obviously unsure of what to do with all of the attention.

“Daddy,” Hadley says, pulling Hunter’s attention back to her. “Why is everyone hugging mummy?”

“Everyone’s excited about the babies, Hads,” he explains. “Just like you were.”

“Oh.”

The commotion around Bobbi has died down, but when Hunter tries to lift Hadley back into her booster chair, she shakes her head, grabbing onto the material of his t-shirt and not letting go. “Stay with you,” she pouts.

“Okay,” Hunter relents. Maybe it’s the two months he spent in chains, but he thinks he’s going soft. He’s not nearly as good at enforcing the rules as he once was. His daughter nuzzles into his shoulder, and Hunter tries not to think about how long he’s going to have to scrub to get the spaghetti sauce out of the fabric.

“Daddy,” Hadley whispers as the conversation around them begins to pick up again. “I wanna go to sleep.”

Hunter furrows his brow - it’s still ages before Hadley’s bedtime, and normally she’s begging him to stay up later, not go to bed earlier. “Okay, bird,” he says, standing slowly. “Are you feeling okay?” He presses the back of his hand against her forehead. Maybe Hadley was coming down with something?

“Fine.” She doesn’t feel any warmer than usual, so Hunter’s inclined to believe her… but why the sudden tiredness?

Hunter considers any manner of questions to ask Hadley to try to figure out what’s wrong, but before he can ask any of them, Hadley is crying. He stops, moving to the side of the hallway so if anyone else happens to walk past they can get through.

“What’s wrong, my birdie?” he asks.

His daughter keeps sobbing. He’s not even sure if she heard him.

“Oh, my Hadley,” Hunter murmurs, beginning to run his fingers through his daughter’s hair and rocking side to side. He hums a nonsensical song, but if anything, his attempts at comfort make Hadley cry harder.

After five minutes of meltdown, Hadley finally says something comprehensible between her sobs. “I want Mummy!”

Hunter’s not about to deny his daughter when she’s red-faced and tear-stained over something he can’t figure out. He walks the short distance back to the kitchen. Hadley’s cries must act as a herald, because Bobbi’s outside in no time, already reaching her arms out for Hadley.

“My baby bird,” she whispers as their daughter detaches herself from her father and clings instead to her mother. Hunter doesn’t catch the rest of what Bobbi says, her voice too low for anyone but Hadley to hear.

He can’t do anything but wait as his wife calms Hurricane Hadley with practiced ease.

He should have been able to do that. But it’s been two months, and he doesn’t know his daughter anymore.

Hunter feels cold.

“Baby?” Bobbi’s voice drags him from his head, and Hunter looks at her.

“Sorry, love. Lost in thought,” he replies. “What did you need?”

Bobbi nods to Hadley, who’s now asleep on her hip. “Can you take her? I think she’s a little worn out.”

Hunter nods, transferring Hadley into his arms with as little jostling as possible. “Have fun at dinner,” he tells his wife, kissing her on the cheek.

“I’m coming with you,” Bobbi says, as if it was obvious. “I just can’t carry her for very long,” she admits with a wince.

“Ah.” Hunter begins walking, Bobbi at his side.

“Am I a good mother?” Bobbi blurts out.

“What?” Hunter asks, stopping in his tracks. “Of course you’re a good mother, Bobbi. What would make you ask that?”

She looks at Hadley, sighing. “She thought I didn’t love her anymore. Because of the babies.” Bobbi runs her hand through her hair. “What kind of mom would make their daughter think that she was being replaced?” Bobbi’s lower lip begins to tremble.

“Bobbi,” Hunter adjusts his grip on Hadley so he can brush his hand down the side of his wife’s face. “Our daughter loves you more than anything in the world. You’re not, nor will you ever be, a bad mum.” Bobbi sniffs, and Lance gives her an encouraging smile. “Let’s just put her to bed, and then we can talk more about this, alright?” His own feelings of inadequacy can wait.

Hadley doesn’t wake up, even when they change her into her pajamas. Hunter kisses her forehead softly, moving so Bobbi can do the same before they walk through the interior door that leads to their room.

Bobbi slinks over to the bed, pulling the covers over her head before Hunter even has the chance to get into bed beside her. He situates himself before ducking under the blankets as well, eyes struggling to make his wife out in the darkness.

She’s crying, and even after all this time, she doesn’t like him to see it.

“Bob.” He reaches his hand out, stopping when he finds the hard curve of her shoulder. “Hadley thinks you hung the moon, and that’s not on accident. You are the _best_ mother our children could ever have.” Lance leans forward slowly, pressing their foreheads together. “Hadley is so lucky to have you, and the babies will be lucky to have you too, when they come along.”

Bobbi trembles slightly as he wraps his arms around her. She doesn’t respond, just sinks deeper into him.

“Lance?” she murmurs after they’ve been laying there for a while and her shivers have subsided.

“Yes, my love?”

“I like being on a team with you.” She leans forward to kiss him, and it’s the easiest thing in the world to do.

“And I with you,” he answers softly.

Here, under the darkness of the covers, their future is spread out before them like a tapestry, bold and colorful and brilliant. It is a good future - any future they get to spend together is a good future.

But Lance? Lance is happy with this one.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh. This was supposed to be short, and then look what happened! 
> 
> Please feel free to yell at me on [tumblr](https://huntxngbxrd.tumblr.com) because I always need more Huntingbird feels friends. :)


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